Saturday, January 26, 2008

Murder by any other name is still murder

Just as "enhanced interrogation technique" is a euphemism devised to make torture sound acceptable, just as the phrase "national interests" is used to con you into feeling that you have a stake in what are actually economic interests from which you cannot possibly benefit, so too is the innocuous sounding phrase "collateral damage" used to keep you from understanding that innocent victims of war have been murdered.

By no standard of morality is it possible to justify the death of even one person who was a non-combatant in an armed conflict, for they had certainly done nothing to deserve their fate, and yet the bodies pile up-- over a million just in Iraq, so far--innocent men, women, and children who had no part to play in our invasion and occupation, except to be killed as "collateral damage".

Michael Boldin, for populistamerica.com, has penned a powerful essay on the subject of "collateral damage"which I strongly recommend that you read, here.

And for a harsher perspective, to make you aware that the death of innocents isn't always accidental, but sometimes set in policy, read this.

"To the victors go the spoils".

Maybe to victors won't want the spoils when they realize that the "spoils" aren't the land, the wealth of the conquered, or the profits made in the enterprise, but are the spoiled rotting corpses of all the human beings murdered on the way to "victory". They may not want them, but they'll deserve them.

1 comment:

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